This invention relates to an apparatus and a method for printing plate cylinder--impression cylinder registration and, more particularly, to an automatic gear mesh and registration system for flexo presses.
This invention is an improvement on co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,728 which required plate roll setup on a fixture external to the press. The instant invention does not require that type of plate roll setup and constitutes a simple, cost effective procedure. The invention differs from the '728 procedure in that it provides for plate roll registration and gear mesh sequentially rather than simultaneously. The '728 patent used preset plate hubs (adjusted on the fixture) to orient each plate cylinder so that, for a single impression drum position, all plate cylinders could be brought into mesh simultaneously. The inventive procedure meshes one gear at a time as a finger means on the impression drum bull gear moves from deck to deck.
According to the invention, a pin is provided on the plate roll gear contacting finger means on the impression drum gear. The pin/gear assembly is mounted to the plate roll so that the relationship from the pin to the start of the print frame is the same for each color deck. The finger or latch is positioned so that, with gears in close proximity and the pin contacting the finger, the gears will mesh without interference.